I gotta get me some feng shui…

A friend of mine is planning on moving into a new house and has asked me to help her redecorate her house. Yay! Interior design is so much fun. Anyways, she’s really in love with the Asian style and especially trying to use the “feng shui” style (meaning keeping the rooms balanced, clean, etc.) Real feng shui, created by the Chinese, related to the ying-yang, balance, and chi. The aim of feng shui is to create a space that utilizes elements, colors, and materials. This space becomes in harmony with nature and the flow of energy. There’s your random info for the day.

I don’t believe in feng shui, but hey, maybe the Chinese are on to something. If we keep our home as simple, organized, and “balanced” as possible, perhaps there is a sense of balance with your enviroment. Or that sense is your knowing there are less pieces of furniture to clean.

Anyways, my friend and I are thinking about doing this for her dinning room. Comments?

Scottsdale – Day 2

Dear Arizona,

I think your weather is too hott. I burned my feet outside at 9am. Do you see the problem? Your citizens spend too much time at the pool and all are gonna die of skin cancer.  I decided to try one of your mexican food resaturants, “Macayos.” No bueno. Your salsa was not salsa. Your taco was not a taco. It was definitely not real mexican food. However, you have some great hotels with fabulous drinks and live Flamenco music. So you’ve redeemed yourself for at least one day…

Love, me.

Scottsdale – Day 1

June 26: 9am: Wow, I can’t believe I forgot how crazy, loud, and circus-esque it is to be in the car with all four of my siblings. I’m not even sure I have the words to describe the experience. It’s like five separate brains, conversations, iPods, phones, and voices moving at the speed of light. Honestly, I remember talking to them, but I have no idea about what. It was a bit overwhelming. Good news – I still have at least half of my sanity. Woohoo!

Seven hours later: We finally made it. The drive was beautiful – lots of mountains, cactuses, and clear blue skies. The hotel is incredible too! We have a villa which is totally nice cause we all have fridges (and a kitchen so mom and I are gonna do a lot of the cooking here.)

5:45pm: Mom and I decided to go to the store to pick up some groceries. I never felt like I stood out so much. Everyone in the store had blonde-ish hair, and I was one of the only girls who was tall and had long, black hair. While walking through the store, I got a lot of looks and glances. Very awkward. These three guys actually had the guts to call out “hey baby!” in FRONT OF MY MOTHER. Agh so frustrating. Where’s a bodyguard when I need one!?

7:30pm: Kids are watching a movie poolside, Lici is at the gym, and I’m laying in bed trying not to fall asleep. You know I’m getting “old” when I’m tired at 7:30! Mucho pathetic. Oy.

Pre-vacation relaxation…

Apparently packing a family of seven is a bigger ordeal than I thought. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that five of the seven members are girls and thus require enormous ammounts of clothing, make-up, and shoes (which naturally can’t fit in just one “tiny” bag). I managed to magically fit all of my stuff in one bag…that was after I sat on my bag multiple times.

Finally! We’re all finished packing. I think we all have everything and won’t forget anything…though I’ve made a point this trip to NOT forget the one item I always leave behind – my toothbrush.

Family sat down after dinner to do devos and review the Colossians study the kiddos are going through. I forgot how much I love that book of the Bible.  “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you  to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. ” – Colossians 1:1o-12. Wow. I have to say, personally, my favorite part of that whole verse is where it says that we are heirs to the kingdom of light. Because of His sacrifce, we are eternally free from the darkness that we were.  So powerful.

After devos, the kids headed to bed and Lici and I decided to watch some corny Sci-Fi movie called 2012: Doomsday. I’m assuming it’s corny because…well it’s a sci-fi movie, and secondly its about the world ending. Thirdly, the opening music is sooooo sooooo dramatic and over the top, it’s a bit ridiculous. We’ll see how this turns out.

Edit:: We got less than 15minutes into the movie and decided to watch this movie called Lean On Me.  Morgan Freeman, one of my fav actors, stars as this teacher-turned-principle of this school in the ghetto. The story is how he basically picked the school up from the ashes of the gang violence and drugs. Totally amazing movie.

I guess it’s nice to be able to chill with the ‘rents and Lici before the long drive to Scottsdale tomorrow. That will be…interesting.

Anyone been to Scottsdale before? Suggestions of things to do/places to eat?

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Vacation here I come…

Summer is supposed to be restful, right? I mean that’s the point of having three months off from school…or so I thought. When you work forty hours a week with kids, there is no such thing as a restful summer. I love my job, but it can be so draining. Twenty seven Kindergarteners and 1st graders can suck the life out of you.

Luckily, my parents decided to take all of us kids on a trip out to Scottsdale, AZ. For a whole week, I’ll have nothing to do but lay by the pool, shop til I drop, and SLEEP! Yay.

I simply cannot wait! Monday is arriving tomorrow, but we head out on Saturday! Wooohooo! Five days and then I’m outta here.  Yes, I’ll miss my job, life, and friends, but I’m so ready for this. The only problem I think I’m going to have is trying to squeeze in packing between 40hrs of work and life.

{My home for seven days…}